A taste of Madras in curry powder

Apoorva loves the written word. An avid tweeter, blogger and Instagrammer, she enjoys trying out new recipes and coming up with some of her own. After studying journalism at M.O.P. Vaishnav College an...
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Who would’ve imagined Madras curry powder would eventually turn out to be one of England’s best-loved spice mixes?

Comprising humble ingredients such as turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek, black pepper, red chillies and others, the spice blend first travelled all the way to London from Fort St. George in Madras.

According to ‘Notes from Madras’ by Arthur Robert K. Wyvern, Madras curry powder (as well as mulligatawny paste) was ﬁrst sold by Barrie’s in Leicester Square. By corollary, any dish that included the above-mentioned curry powder was duly named as 'Madras' something.

In the 1890s, P.V. Condiments’ brand of curry powder became famous in England thanks to a Mr. Sharwood. So famous that even the Buckingham Palace purchased it from them.

Believed to have originated from the Tamil word kari meaning sauce or relish, the frangrant Madars curry powder now has many variations.

The blend of Apoorva's write up, plus the photo,itself constitutes a
spicy, mouth watering, culinary, multipurpose, condiment,the magic red
powder,which adds flavor and taste to any dish on the dining table,
which has traveled all the way to London and even entered the Royal Kitchen,following the Mulligatawny paste.May the flavor of Madras curry
powder spread far and wide keeping chennai Flag flutter high.

Slideshow

Photos can be a potent tool in understanding history. During Madras Week, The Hindu invited its readers to use this tool to create a pictorial record of our city. Here are some of the photos received. For more pictures, click here .